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July 15, 2008

Wee-Fi: Kentucky Town-Fi; Exorbitant Hotel-Fi

Kentucky town shaves 97 percent of Wi-Fi network cost: The town of Prestonsburg, Kent., thought a city-wide Wi-Fi network could help attract tourists and businesses, while expanding remote access for telemedicine and other purposes. But Government Technology reports that the first estimates for building a network were from $48,000 to $248,000. They opted to use Meraki's mesh gear and spent $8,500 instead, covering just a 2-mi stretch of their downtown. About 2/3rds was for the equipment, the rest for DSL connections and marketing. The service is free and has no ads at present.

Portfolio critiques crazy hotel Wi-Fi pricing: The travel guru that is Joe Brancatelli turns a steely eye to $15 per night charges at fancy hotels for Internet access, noting that cheaper hotels include such service at no cost. The higher-end hotels won't talk for attribution, but they say that a "fraction" of guests use Internet, so why bundle it into the room rate? Pshaw. At $15 per night, four to six users pay the entire cost, while the hotel or its operator accepts a fraction of that rate as settlement from Boingo and iPass and other aggregators. So it's nonsense. They charge because business travelers will expense it and be reimbursed.